Car sales up 8.28 percent in June; Maruti leads

New Delhi: Driven by market leader Maruti Suzuki India, car sales in the country grew 8.28 percent to 1,55,763 units in June 2012 amid tough market conditions.According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today domestic car sales stood at 1,43,851 units in the same month last year.\"June car sales grew because of the low base in last year due to industrial problems at some manufacturers\' plants. So this has been reflected in this year\'s figure,\" SIAM Senior Director Sugato Sen told reporters here.Country\'s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) had witnessed strike by workers at its Manesar plant in June last year, which had severely hit production.In June this year, MSI sold 70,977 units, up 23.11 percent, as against 57,653 units in the same month last year.Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd posted a marginal increase in sales to 30,363 units in June this year, as against 30,302 units last year.Tata Motors, on the other hand, witnessed a decline of 26.6 percent to 13,595 units, from 18,522 units in June 2011.\"Overall, there is moderation in sales growth and reasons, we all know, are high petrol prices and interest rates. For the future, we are optimistic as interest rates are stable and we hope that they will come down,\" SIAM President S Sandilya said.SIAM said that in terms of volumes, car sales in June this year were the lowest since October 2011 which stood at 1,38,095 units.According to the SIAM data, motorcycle sales grew 6.58 percent during June this year to 8,79,713 units from 8,25,388 units in the same month last year.Market leader Hero MotoCorp posted sales of 4,89,505 units during the month as against 4,66,501, up 4.93 percent.Bajaj Auto Ltd\'s sales in June stood at 2,11,510 compared to 2,08,883 units in the same months last year, up 1.25 percent.Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) registered sales of 95,315 units during the month against 61,435 units in June last year. TVS Motor Co\'s sales, on the other hand, were at 44,375 units compared to 50,835 units in June last year.Total two-wheeler sales in June this year grew 9.2 percent to 11,69,733 units from 10,71,161 units in the same month last year, SIAM said. Sen said the growth rate in the two-wheeler segment slowed down mainly due to high-base effect of last year.Scooter sales during June this year stood at 2,24,224 units as against 1,82,324 units in the same month last year.HMSI\'s scooter sales were at 1,20,893, as against 76,310 units in the same month last year.While Hero MotoCorp\'s June scooter sales were at 32,305 units as compared to 32,924 units in the same month last year, that of TVS Motor Co were 37,694 units as against 41,012 units.Sales of commercial vehicles grew 4.71 percent to 64,926 units in June from 62,007 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said.\"There is a huge concern about the economic growth. Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M&HCV) sales are negative in June,\" Sen said.In June, (M&HCV) sales stood at 23,907 units as against 27,668 in the year-ago month.Light commercial vehicles sales stood at 41,019 as against 34,339 units in the same month last year, SIAM said.Three-wheeler sales during June this year stood at 42,079 units as compared to 40,549 units in the same month last year.Total sales of vehicles across categories registered 9.05 percent growth to 14,85,744 units in June 2012 from 13,62,495 units in the same month last year, it added.\"Overall auto sales, there is slight recovery in June,\" Sen said.